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&nbsp The regional forums have been removed but the content is still here. It is all in the main Upcoming Rides/Trips/Events forum. You will notice that many threads now have regional prefixes in front of the titles. If you wish to view threads ONLY for that region, scroll down to the "Display Options" box and do a sort and pick the prefix you want, then hit "Show Threads". The result will be exactly what you would have seen in the old regional subforum. I am working on finding a way to move the sort option to the top of the thread list so you don't have to scroll down to use it. Please be patient as I am NOT a web programmer Any comments and/or suggestions are welcome. Please post them here.

Not everything in the world has to be done with Garmin and Garmin Maps. Many of us use some form of Garmin GPS for navigating and use the Garmin supplied maps in either Basecamp or Mapsource, Garmin's mapping programs.

In a post I made for my trip to Europe I explained how I am using OpenStreetMap for Garmin as my source for maps on my trip. Scott suggested that I start another thread, dedicated to the process of using OSM in Basecamp or Mapsource.

Why would you use OSM instead of Garmin maps? If you have Lifetime Maps ("LM" on GPS purchases) and only need North America (not including Mexico), they you probably wouldn't. Garmin is pretty good at information in the US and Canada. But, if you didn't have Lifetime Maps or wanted something besides the US or Canada, you might want to consider OSM.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't for the faint of heart. It will take a little trial and error and an ability to work through a little frustration. I can almost guarantee something will go wrong before you get a workable solution. So, if you are interested, let's get started with what I have already posted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfink

I have spent quite a bit of time figuring how to get a complete map of Europe for our Garmin GPS's from OpenStreetMap ("OSM"). You may ask, why not buy Garmin's map of Europe. I don't know, perhaps it was the experience in South America? The Garmin maps samples we tried to use, were woefully inadequate, missing information and misrepresenting others. Google was almost as bad, and sent us on numerous boondoggles to find hotels, border crossings, restaurants, etc. only to find them missing or miles away.

I like OSM! It's somewhat interactive, in that if you find something inaccurate, it can be submitted and they will actually do something about it. People know this and will actually correct mistakes or missing information. With Garmin and Google, you might as well talk into your hat. Things just seemed to work best with OSM, and ... it's free!

When I discovered that OSM required every country in Europe had to be downloaded separately, I was a little dismayed. I began downloading some 30 odd countries individually and found it was difficult to develop a complete route, one country at a time. So, I began looking for a program to tie together each country into a single map of Europe. I tried probably four programs that I couldn't get to work, most of them CMD prompt driven. Found a program called OSM Combiner, that was programed in Java. I had to download the Java Runtime (64 bit) and found that the format I downloaded from OSM wasn't correct, so had to go back and re-download every country in the right format. Eventually, after long suffering, I was able to make a map of Europe that works! Sweet!

It's like a lot of things though, once having gone through all of this, it is fairly simple now to get what I need. I would use OSM before any Garmin map except for North America, not including Mexico. How can you trust a mapping program called North America that doesn't include Mexico???. If anyone wants a short tutorial on loading OSM instead of the Garmin maps, drop me a line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfink

It works exactly as the maps you get from Garmin. It loads into Basecamp or Mapsource. You view the maps and build the routes with Basecamp, just like you would with Garmin's maps. The map is selected from the drop down for the Maps. The picture below is a screen capture of Basecamp, with the Map menu dropped down. You can see that I have selected "Europe OSM" (which I the one I made) instead of the Garmin "City Navigator North America NT 2019.1". Easy, once you get there.

So are there downloadable maps for North America as well then? I am sick to death of Garmin and their unlock codes for maps. I have CN 2015 and valid codes, but I cannot get them reinstalled because I cannot find my original CD. Their solution is for me to shell out the bucks for a new map. I suspect it will not be too many more years before Garmin is either out of business or close to it unless they change their business model. Too many people are just using cell phones with free maps now.

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First off, I only know how this works for Windows 10 PC's. I don't use an Apple. If you only need a specific country, it is pretty straight forward:

1) go to OSM for Garmin
2) I usually select Generic Routable (new style)
3) Pick the country out of the drop downs
4) You can add a few tiles around the country by clicking the check box. Keep in mind you can add a few but they will have to build the map, so you will need to give them your email address. Add too many and they will tell you they can't build that map because it is too large.
5) once you make your selection, they will either say "Download Map Now" or "Email Address: (a text box for your email address) and a button to "Build My Map"

Many folks may want Mexico. I can tell you, Mexico on OSM is much, MUCH better than Garmin. It may be a good country to experiment with. just saying ...

If your e-mail is required, you will get an e-mail saying that your request is being processed and eventually, once complete, that the file is available. However, if you are lucky enough to have the country available immediately, you will get a list of files to choose from. Click on "osm_generic_new_windows.exe" to download. Go to the folder it downloaded too and click on the file.

A little about virus protection. My Norton automatically removed the file I downloaded, because it was an .exe file and not enough was known about the file to consider it safe. I had to add an exception for this file in Norton settings (not difficult, just a little time consuming). Also, Windows Defender has a setting that allows only files from their "Store" to be downloaded. If this is the case, it will pop up and you can select to download a file from anywhere. Finally, Windows Defender will pop up and say it has "Protect your PC", click on the More info and a button will appear to allow you to "Run anyway". A dialog box will appear asking if you want this program to make changes to your computer. Choose yes to install.

There are a lot of steps getting around the virus protection, and if you are uncomfortable with this, this process may not be for you. But, I have never had a problem with anything from the OSM web site.

If you choose to continue, there are a series of boxes for install. "Next">"I Agree"> "Install">"Finish". Once done, there should be a map Basecamp for what you just installed. Click on it in Basecamp and use it just like you would the Garmin version of City Navigator North America. If you have had Basecamp open during the install, you will need to close and reopen.

So are there downloadable maps for North America as well then? I am sick to death of Garmin and their unlock codes for maps. I have CN 2015 and valid codes, but I cannot get them reinstalled because I cannot find my original CD. Their solution is for me to shell out the bucks for a new map. I suspect it will not be too many more years before Garmin is either out of business or close to it unless they change their business model. Too many people are just using cell phones with free maps now.

Yes, the easy install is State by State. Pick a state on the drop down and then download it. I just added a post for that process. But this will only give you access to one state at a time in Basecamp. The more difficult install is getting all the states together in one map, and that will take a little more work. I will write up the process for this, but will take a little time.

I use OSMAND+ for Android. This app uses open street maps and costs $3.49 (when I purchased anyway). You get unlimited downloads of map data. My son and I do trip planning in Google Maps on a pc then use http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert_input to convert the url of the route to a GPX file. You can import that file into OSMAND+. No clue about iDevice compatibility. No habla Apple.

Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

&nbsp The regional forums have been removed but the content is still here. It is all in the main Upcoming Rides/Trips/Events forum. You will notice that many threads now have regional prefixes in front of the titles. If you wish to view threads ONLY for that region, scroll down to the "Display Options" box and do a sort and pick the prefix you want, then hit "Show Threads". The result will be exactly what you would have seen in the old regional subforum. I am working on finding a way to move the sort option to the top of the thread list so you don't have to scroll down to use it. Please be patient as I am NOT a web programmer Any comments and/or suggestions are welcome. Please post them here.

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